Purification of wheat germ agglutinin using macroporous or microporous filtration membrane

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a microporous or macroporous affinity filtration membrane wherein the matrix of the membrane is composed of chitin and the pores are made by dissolution of porogen during the preparation of the membrane. The invention also relates to a method for the purification of wheat germ agglutinin using chitin microprous or macroporous membranes.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/834,644, filed on Apr. 14, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,661 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention.

The present invention relates to the area of affinity purification of macromolecules. More particularly, the invention provides an affinity membrane, wherein the pore size is based upon the size of the porogen selected, a method for preparation of the membrane, and a method for affinity purification of macromolecules.

2. Description of Related Art.

Affinity membrane filtration (AMF) has recently emerged as an alternative to affinity column chromatography. An advantage of AMF is that high flow rates at low pressure drops can be achieved, thereby greatly improving the washing, elution, and regeneration processes, and decreasing the probability of deactivation of the biomolecules by shortening their exposure to an unfavorable medium.

The key to efficient AMF is the preparation of the affinity membranes. In general, two approaches have been employed to prepare affinity membranes. In the most common method, microporous affinity membranes are prepared from polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polysulfone, and glass. However, these membranes are usually hydrophobic and relatively inert, and hence require modifications. In addition, some of the membranes may require amplification of the number of active groups. To overcome these drawbacks, a second approach has been employed wherein membranes are prepared that have preincorporated functional groups. However, the problems with this type of membranes include hydrophobicity (poly glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate membrane), brittleness, and solubility in acids (cellulose acetate membrane). Another drawback with both of the above methods is that the pore size of the membrane cannot be easily controlled.

Recently chitosan membranes have been suggested as affinity membranes for immobilization of various macromolecules having affinity for chitosan. Next to cellulose, chitin (poly (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine)), is the most abundant biopolymer. Chitosan, the deacetylated form of chitin, is soluble in dilute aqueous organic acids but is insoluble in alkaline solutions. Chitosan molecules contain a large number of reactive hydroxyl and amine groups, which can easily attach ligands. In view of its hydrophilicity, excellent film-forming ability, good mechanical properties, and high chemical reactivity (containing hydroxyl and amine groups), chitosan can be an excellent candidate for filtration membranes. Moreover, since chitosan has a positive charge due to the presence of —NH₂ groups, it can be used to selectively adsorb malignant leukemia cells which carry a higher negative charge on their surface than normal cells. Since chitin contains N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units in its structure which can bind certain molecules, it can be employed for affinity purification without further chemical modification. Other advantages of chitosan and chitin are that they are easily available and inexpensive. Moreover, chitin and crosslinked chitosan are insoluble in both acidic and alkaline media making them suitable as filtration membranes.

In addition to affinity filtration, other uses of chitosan membranes include reverse osmosis (Yang and Zall, 1984 J. Food Sci., vol 49:91-93), pervaporation (Tsugita et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,304; Zeng et al., 1993 Membr. Sci. Technol., vol 13:29-32; Goto et al., 1994 Sep. Sci. Technol. vol 29:1915-23), ultrafiltration (Beppu et al., 1993 Kobunshi Ronbunshu vol 50:35-40), and affinity filtration (Zeng and Ruckenstein 1996 J. Membr. Sci. vol 117:271-278). U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,747 to Moo-Young et al. describes the use of a semi-permeable membrane, formed by chitosan and a water soluble polymer, for immobilization of biologically active material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,255 to Uragami describes a selective permeable membrane prepared by cross-linking of chitosan by aldehyde, and used for separation of water-alcohol solution.

Currently, there is no suitable method available for the preparation of microporous or macroporous chitosan membranes wherein the size of the pores can be controlled. The most common method to prepare microporous chitosan membranes is the phase-inversion process, using a large molecular weight organic compound as a porogen. The process involves three steps: (1) casting of a solution of the membrane containing a porogen and partial evaporation of the solvent; (2) sol-gel transformation and generation of pores via the addition of a solvent for the porogen; and (3) heat treatment for stabilizing the pore structure and improving the mechanical properties. This method requires rigorous control of various parameters, particularly the kind and amount of porogen and evaporation conditions (time, humidity and temperature). Generally, the porogens employed in the phase-inversion methods for preparing hydrophobic membranes were organic compounds of low molecular weight such as acetone, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, benzene, etc. To obtain large pores in chitosan membranes, the relatively large molecule of poly(ethylene glycol), molecular weight 35,000, was used as porogen (Zeng and Ruckenstein, 1996 J. Membr. Sci. vol 117:271-278). Although relatively high permeability membranes were obtained, their mechanical properties were not satisfactory, and they had to be placed on another support.

So far, microporous or macroporous chitin membranes have not been available, primarily because no suitable solvent and porogen could be found. A few solvents, such as the mixtures trichloroacetic acid-chloral hydrate-dichloromethane (Brine and Austin, 1975 ACS Symposium Series, Church T. D., Eds., American Chemical Soc., vol 18, p505), dimethylacetamide (DMAc)-LiCl (Rutherford and Austin, 1977 Proc. of the First International Conf. on Chitin and Chitosan, Muzzaralli, R. A. A., Priser, E. R., Eds., MIT Sea Grant Program, Cambridge), and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone-DMAc-LiCl (Uragami et al., 1981 Polym., vol 30:1155-1156) have been tried. However, it was either almost impossible to completely dissolve chitin in these solvents, or required a long time, followed frequently by degradation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a macroporous or microporous filtration membrane for affinity purification of macromolecules, wherein the matrix comprises chitosan or its acetylated form, chitin, and the size of the pores can be controlled.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for the preparation of chitosan or chitin membranes wherein the matrix of the membrane is formed around a porogen of desired size. The porogen particles are then dissolved to form the membrane pores.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for affinity purification of molecules having an affinity for chitosan or chitin.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a method for the purification of wheat germ agglutinin from wheat germ.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a scanning electron micrograph showing the morphology of a macroporous chitosan membrane, wherein the weight ratio of silica particles to chitosan is 4:1 and the size of silica particles is 5 μm.

FIG. 1 b is a scanning electron micrograph showing the morphology of a macroporous chitosan membranes, wherein the size of silica particles is 10 μm and the weight ratio of silica to chitosan is 4:1.

FIG. 1 c is a scanning electron micrograph showing the morphology of a macroporous chitosan membranes, wherein the size of silica particles is 15-40 μm and the weight ratio of silica to chitosan is 4:1.

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the effect of the size of silica particles on the flow rate through chitosan membranes.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a cartridge used to house chitosan or chitin membranes for affinity filtration.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the adsorption of lysozyme on the chitin membrane cartridge at 20° C.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the elution profiles of lysozyme at three different flow rates: (a) 1 ml/min; (b) 5 ml/min; (c) 15 ml/min.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating HPLC elution profiles of (a)—pure ovalbumin; (b)—pure lysozyme; and (c)—lysozyme separated from egg white using a chitin cartridge.

FIG. 7 is a representation of the adsorption isotherm of wheat germ agglutinin on chitin membranes.

FIG. 8 is a representation of the effect of loading of wheat germ agglutinin on the eluted amount and yield of wheat germ agglutinin.

FIG. 9 is a representation of the elution profile of wheat germ agglutinin from the chitin membrane cartridge.

FIG. 10 is a graphic representation of the purification of crude wheat germ agglutinin extract on chitin membrane cartridge, with flow rates of 2 ml/min for adsorption, and 5 ml/min for washing and elution.

FIG. 11 is a photographic representation of SDS-PAGE of wheat germ agglutinin purified by the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

“Macroporous” as used herein means pores having a diameter of at least 1.0 μm.

“Microporous” as used herein means pores having a diameter of from 0.1 μm to about 1.0 μm.

“Membrane” as used herein means a membrane wherein the matrix can be of any shape including, but not limited to, flat surfaces and spheres.

The present invention is concerned with a porous affinity membrane wherein the matrix comprises chitosan or chitin, and wherein the pores are created by dissolution of the porogen. The pores can be in the micro- (diameter 0.1 μm to 1.0 μm) or macro- (diameter greater than 1.0 μm) range depending upon the size of the porogen selected for the preparation of the membranes.

To prepare the membrane of the present invention, commercially available chitosan such as, but not limited to, chitosan of molecular weight about 70,000 to about 2,000,000, can be used. While chitosan of any molecular weight can be used, a preferred embodiment has chitosan of molecular weight between about 400,000 to about 2,000,000. Any porogen in particulate form that is soluble in basic solutions and insoluble in acidic ones can be used. It is preferable to use an inorganic porogen in order to obtain a dried chitosan membrane rather than a chitosan gel membrane. Suitable porogens include, but are not limited to, silica, aluminum silicate and aluminum oxide.

In one illustrative embodiment, the porogen is silica. Since silica is available in several sizes, a wide range of pore size can be achieved. In a more preferred embodiment, the size of silica particles is from about 15 μm to about 40 μm which results in an average pore size of 19.8 μm for chitosan membranes and 17.9 μm for chitin membranes.

Chitosan membranes are prepared according to the process of the present invention by first preparing a suspension of the porogen particles in an aqueous acidic solution of chitosan.

To prepare acidic chitosan solution, organic acids were found to be particularly suitable for this invention. Such acids include, but are not limited to, acetic acid, formic acid, dichloroacetic acid, and trifluoroacetic acid. However, non-organic acids such as, but not limited to, hydrochloric acid, also work well. In a preferred embodiment, the acid is acetic acid. The concentration of chitosan in the aqueous acidic solution is inversely related to its molecular weight. For example, for an average molecular weight of 750,000, the appropriate concentration is around 0.5 wt % to 1.5 wt %. For the lower molecular weight of 70,000 the concentration is around 2 wt % to 6 wt percent.

The acidic chitosan solution containing the porogen is shaped into the desired membrane form. For preparing flat sheets, the suspension is cast on a rimmed glass plate and the solvent is allowed to evaporate. For hollow fibers, the pressurized suspension is extruded through a spinneret into a coagulation bath and for preparing beads, the pressurized suspension is dropped through a nozzle into a coagulation bath. The coagulation bath comprises NaOH. In addition, it may also contain ethanol or methanol.

The porogen particles are easily extracted by exposing the shaped membranes to an alkaline solution. It may be desirable to carry out the treatment with the alkaline solution at a higher temperature so as to accelerate dissolution of silica and generate a porous membrane. In addition, heat treatment also improves the mechanical properties of the membrane. The time of exposure to the alkaline solution is dependent upon the temperature. For example, at 80° C., a 2 hour treatment was found to be adequate, while at room temperature, a 24 hour treatment was necessary. Chitosan is insoluble in alkaline solution and hence is unaffected by this treatment.

Following dissolution of the porogen, the alkaline solution is removed by washing with water and then the membrane is either allowed to dry or can be stored in methanol or ethanol. In a preferred embodiment, the membrane is treated, before drying, with a plasticizer, which acts as a softening agent. This reduces the shrinkage during drying but has only a minimal effect on the flow rate through the membrane. Such plasticizers include, but are not limited to glycerol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol and trimethylene glycol. Glycerol is a particularly suitable plasticizer. Alternatively, the plasticizer may be included in the chitosan-porogen suspension.

The number of pores in a membrane can be controlled by changing the weight ratio of silica to chitosan. For example, increase of this ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 rapidly increases the flow rate of pure water through the membrane prepared with silica particles in the range 15 μm to 40 μm. The flow rate increases, however, only slightly for ratios larger than 2:1, because the resultant membrane is more easily compressed at higher pressure drops. Membranes prepared with silica particles of other sizes also display a similar behavior.

In affinity separation processes, the proteins or enzymes adsorbed are often eluted at low pH. To prevent the dissolution of the membranes in acidic solutions, the membrane is treated with a cross-linking agent. Any cross-linking agent that reacts with OH or NH₂ can be used. Such cross-linkers include, but are not limited to, glutaraldehyde, hexamethylene diisocyanate, epichlorohydrin, and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether. However, cross-linking decreases the number of functional groups, and consequently the potential ligand density. The chitosan molecule contains two functional groups, OH and NH₂, with the latter being more active than the former. In one preferred embodiment, to maintain the number of amine groups, epichlorohydrin is used since, under basic conditions, it reacts only with the OH groups. Chitin microporous or macroporous membranes are obtained via acetylation of the corresponding chitosan membranes with acetic anhydride in methanol. The N-acetylated chitosan (chitin) membrane has a stronger chemical resistance than chitosan membrane, being insoluble in 5 vol % aqueous solution of acetic acid (pH 2.5) and in 5 wt % aqueous NaOH solution. This increased chemical resistance is most likely due to the presence of COCH₃ group, which decreases the elongation upon increasing the extent of crystallinity.

The method of the present invention can also be employed to prepare composite membranes, in which chitosan is blended with synthetic polymers such as, but not limited to, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene oxide (PEO), poly amides, polyacrylamides, polymethacrylate and polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate, or natural polymers such as, but not limited to, gelatin, collagen, dextran, agarose, silk, cellulose and cellulose derivatives. Such combinations would be useful in improving the properties of polymer membranes, such as blood compatibility, mechanical properties and biodegradability. The present invention is not limited to flat sheets, but can be used in other forms including, but not limited to, hollow fibers and beads. Flat membranes can be housed in a support assembly. In a preferred embodiment, the support assembly is a plate type filtration cartridge wherein, multiple membranes can be stacked. Stacking of multiple membranes increases the adsorptive capacity of the membranes.

In contrast to most commercial membranes, the membranes of the present invention contain a large number of active groups (—OH and/or NH₂). Therefore the membranes of the present invention can be used, without any further amplification of the number of active groups, in various applications such as affinity membranes. Since chitin membranes contain N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units in its structure, it can be used to bind macromolecules that have an affinity for this group. Such macromolecules include, but are not limited to, lysozyme and wheat germ agglutinin. Chitosan membranes can bind molecules that have an affinity for glucosamine. Such molecules include, but are not limited to, protein A and Cibacron{umlaut over (a)} Blue F3GA dye. Other potential uses for macroporous and microporous chitosan and chitin membranes include, but are not limited to, agents for wound dressing, hemostatic bandages, metal chelating agents, enzyme carriers, agents for cell immobilization, and blood filters to remove selected cells.

These and other applications will become more clear from the following examples:

EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of Chitosan Macroporous Membranes

Illustrated in this embodiment is the preparation of chitosan membranes. A solution of chitosan was first obtained by dissolving 1 g of chitosan in 100 ml of 1 vol % aqueous acetic acid solution containing 10 wt % glycerol. To this solution, the desired size and amount of silica particles were added, followed by vigorous stirring in order to disperse them uniformly. Then the solution was poured onto a rimmed glass plate and the liquid was allowed to evaporate. The dried membrane was immersed in a 5 wt % aqueous NaOH solution and kept for 2 hours at 80° C. Finally, the porous membrane was washed with distilled water to remove the remaining NaOH.

EXAMPLE 2

Cross-linking of Microporous or Macroporous Chitosan Membranes

While insoluble in alkaline solutions, the chitosan membrane is soluble in dilute acetic acid solutions. To prevent the dissolution of chitosan membrane under acidic conditions, which are necessary to elute many biomolecules, the chitosan membrane must be cross-linked. Cross-linking of the chitosan membrane was carried out under mild conditions using epichlorohydrin as the cross-linker. The chitosan membranes were immersed in 1×10⁻²M epichlorohydrin solution, containing 0.067M NaOH (pH 10) for 2 hours at 50° C. Then the membranes were taken out of the solution and rinsed with distilled water until neutral conditions. Table 1 shows the effect of cross-linking of chitosan membranes.

TABLE 1 in 5 vol % aqueous flux (ml/min/cm²) chitosan acetic acid at pressure drop membrane soln, pH 2.5 of 3/5 psi before cross- soluble 18.1/27.4 linking after cross- insoluble 17.3/26.0 linking

In order to prevent its shrinkage during drying, the membrane was immersed in a 20 vol % aqueous glycerol solution for 30 min and, after removing the excess glycerol solution, placed on a glass plate and allowed to dry. Thus, a strong and flexible membrane that had not undergone shrinkage, was obtained.

EXAMPLE 3

Conversion of Macroporous Chitosan Membranes to Macroporous Chitin Membranes

To prepare chitin membranes, the corresponding chitosan membranes were acetylated after removal of the alkaline solution used to dissolve the porogen particles. The acetylation of chitosan membranes to chitin was carried out via its immersion into a stirred solution of 100 ml methanol containing 5 ml of acetic anhydride for 1 hour at 50° C. The membranes were then removed from the solution and washed successively with methanol and distilled water, followed by treatment of the membrane with 5 wt % aqueous NaOH solution overnight to remove the CH₂OH acetylated groups. Finally, a white macroporous chitin membrane was obtained after washing with distilled water until neutral conditions. Table 2 presents a comparison of the chemical resistance and mechanical properties, and Table 3 presents a comparison of the physical properties of chitin and chitosan membranes. The mechanical properties of the chitosan and chitin membranes were determined at 20° C. using an Instrona universal testing instrument (Model 1000). The gauge length was 20 mm and the extension rate 10 mm/min. The specific adsorption areas of chitosan and chitin macroporous membranes were determined by the BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) method using a Micromeritics{umlaut over (a)} ASAP 2000 instrument. The porosities of the chitosan and chitin membranes were obtained by determining their swelling in water and using the following expression:

porosity (%)={(W₁-W₂)/d_(water)}100/V

where W₁ and W₂ are the weights of the membranes in the wet and dry states, respectively, d_(water) is the density of pure water at 20° C., and V is the volume of the membrane in the wet state.

TABLE 2 mechanical properties chem resistance in (dry/wet) 5 wt % 5 vol % tensile NaOH HOAc strength, elongation at Membrane solution solution MPa break, % chitosan insoluble soluble 7.37/0.90 6.1/102.2 chitin insoluble insoluble 9.23/1.09 4.6/29.3 

TABLE 3 flux spec (ml/min/cm²) adsorption average at pressure thickness porosity area pore size, drop of 3/5 membrane (μm) (%) (m²/g) (μm) psi chitosan 119 75.2 1.8 19.8 17.6/30.8 chitin 132 62.2 1.6 17.9 15.0/28.9

EXAMPLE 4

Morphology of Chitosan and Chitin Membranes:

Scanning electron microscopy was employed to investigate the morphology of the chitosan and chitin membranes. The specimen were prepared as follows: the wet membrane was wiped with a filter paper to remove the excess water present on the surface of the membrane, then framed on a petri dish to prevent shrinkage along the surface, and allowed to dry. The membranes were fractured under liquid nitrogen and the fractured surfaces were coated with a thin layer of carbon before scanning. FIGS. 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c) show that the pores are distributed uniformly indicating that the silica particles were dispersed uniformly.

EXAMPLE 5

Effect of Size of Silica Particles on the Morphology and Flow Rate Through Chitosan Membranes:

To determine the effect of the size of silica particles on the morphology of the membrane and on the rate of flow of fluids through the membrane, three kinds of silica particles, size between 15 and 40 μm, average size of 10 μm, and average size of 5 μm, were selected for illustration. The morphologies of the chitosan membranes can be seen from the electron micrographs of FIG. 1 a (5 μm), FIG. 1 b (10 μm), and FIG. 1 c (15-40 μm), which show three-dimensional networks with high porosities and uniformly distributed pores. A comparison of the flow rates through these membranes is presented in FIG. 2. The flow rate for membranes prepared with silica particles of sizes 15-40 μm (curve 1) and 10 μm (curve 2) was higher than that for membranes prepared with silica particles of size 5 μm (curve 3). The larger silica particles provided the larger pore sizes and, hence, the larger flow rates of pure water through the membrane. The average pore size of membranes prepared with a weight ratio of silica to chitosan of 8:1 and with silica particles of sizes 15-40 μm, 10 μm and 5 μm membranes was 19.5 μm, 6.6 μm, and 2.5 μm respectively. These results indicate that the size of the pores can be controlled by selecting silica particles of appropriate size. In addition, the electron micrographs indicate that the pores are uniformly distributed.

EXAMPLE 6

Preparation of Composite Membranes containing Chitosan and Synthetic Polymers

In one embodiment of the invention, chitosan is blended with synthetic polymers to make composite membranes. Chitosan and PEO were dissolved individually in 1 vol % aqueous acetic acid solution containing 10 wt % glycerol. Then the two solutions were mixed in various proportions. The silica particles (15-40 μm) were suspended via stirring in the mixture; this was followed by casting the suspension on a rimmed glass plate. After drying at room temperature, the dried membrane was immersed in 5% NaOH solution at 80° C. for 2 hours, followed by washing with distilled water. This produced a macroporous chitosan-poly(ethylene oxide) blend membrane.

To prepare a chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol blend membrane, the casting solution was prepared by mixing a 2 wt % polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) aqueous solution with a 1 wt % chitosan aqueous acetic acid solution containing 10 wt % glycerol and silica particles (15-40 μm). Dissolution of silica particles was carried out by immersion in 5% NaOH at 60° C. for 5 hours.

EXAMPLE 7

Preparation of Composite Membranes containing Chitosan and Natural Polymers

In one embodiment of the invention, composite membranes containing chitosan and collagen or chitosan and gelatin were prepared. One wt % solutions of chitosan and collagen or gelatin were prepared by dissolving them individually in a 2 vol % aqueous acetic acid solution. The individual solutions were then mixed in a 1:1 volume ratio. Silica particles (15-40 mm) were added with vigorous mixing, followed by casting the suspension on a rimmed glass plate and drying at room temperature. The dried membrane was immersed in 5% NaOH solution at 60° C. for 5 hours, followed by washing with distilled water.

EXAMPLE 8

Preparation of Membrane Cartridge

In one embodiment of this invention, the membrane is housed in a plate type filtration cartridge. While any cartridge known to those skilled in the art can be used, an example of such a cartridge is presented here. A schematic diagram of the cartridge is presented in FIG. 3. Two porous sintered plates (3 mm thick) were employed as distributors in the cartridge. In addition, multi-inlet ports (4 inlets) and a bubble relief valve were employed in order to achieve better sample distribution. The cartridge has a hollow bottom portion 5, the bottom of which houses a flow collector 8 which leads to an outlet port 6. The stacked chitosan membranes 7 are placed on the flow collector. The top cover of the cartridge 4 has a flow distributor 3 which, together with the flow collector 8, sandwiches the chitosan membranes 7. The flow distributor 3 in the cover 4 has three inlet ports 2 to feed the fluid to the membranes. The purpose of the flow distributor is to feed the fluid uniformly to the membranes. The cover houses an “O”-ring seal 1, which seals the chitosan membranes from the outside.

EXAMPLE 9

Preparation of Hollow Fibers

In one embodiment of this invention, the membrane is in the form of a hollow fiber. For preparing hollow fibers, an acidic chitosan solution containing silica particles of desired size is placed into a cylinder and extruded with a piston through a spinneret into a coagulation bath (aqueous 5% wt NaOH, which may contain ethanol or methanol). While not intending to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that this solidifies the fiber by deprotonating the amine group. This is followed by drawing the fiber through a washing bath (deionized water) to remove the sodium hydroxide, and then through an acetone bath to dehydrate the fiber. Glycerine may be added into the spin dope, the coagulating solution and washing bath to prevent rupture during drying. Subsequently the fiber is immersed in a NaOH solution at 80° C. to dissolve the silica particles and to generate the porous fiber. A hollow fiber spinneret can be employed to prepare chitosan hollow fiber. Treatment with a cross-linker, as in Example 2, is needed to stabilize the membranes. Micro- or macroporous chitin fibers or hollow membranes can be prepared by acetylating the chitosan fiber or hollow fiber with acetic anhydride.

EXAMPLE 10

Preparation of Beads:

In another embodiment of this invention, chitosan and chitin beads are prepared. To prepare chitosan beads, a suspension of silica particles in acidic chitosan solution is dropped through a nozzle, using compressed air, into a stirred NaOH or NaOH-methanol solution to form chitosan beads. The formed beads are filtered and washed with deionized water and methanol, followed by drying. The silica-containing beads are immersed in a 5 wt % NaOH to dissolve the silica particle, and to generate micro- or macroporous chitosan beads. A cross-linker, for example, glutaraldehyde, hexamethylene diisocyanate or ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether, can be used to harden the beads. For the preparation of beads, these cross-linkers are preferred over epichlorohydrin since the use of these cross-linkers results in hard beads that are easier to process than the epichlorohydrin treated beads. To prepare chitin beads, the chitosan beads can be treated with acetic anhydride.

EXAMPLE 11

Use of the Membrane:

In one embodiment of the invention, the membrane is used for affinity purification of lysozyme which has a known affinity for the D-glucosamine moieties of chitin. A 1 mg/ml solution of lysozyme in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 8.0) containing 1 M NaCl was prepared and loaded at a flow rate of 1, 5, or 15 ml/min into the chitin cartridge of Example 8. The ratio of the concentration of lysozyme in the effluent (C) and the initial concentration of lysozyme (C_(o)) is plotted as a function of time in FIG. 4. The time required to achieve saturation was about 20 min for 15 ml/min (c; curve 6), about 30 min for 5 ml/min (b; curve 5) and more than 70 min for 1 ml/min (a; curve 4). The adsorption was followed by washing with phosphate buffer for 10 min at a flow rate of 15 ml/min, and by elution with 0.1 M acetic acid solution at 1, 5, and 15 ml/min, until no protein was detected in the effluent. The effluent was collected and the concentration determined spectrophotometrically. The elution profile is presented in FIG. 5. About 40, 10 and 5 minutes were needed for the elution flows of 1 ml/min (a; curve 7), 5 ml/min (b; curve 8), and 15 ml/min (c; curve 9) respectively to remove 95 of the strongly bound protein.

EXAMPLE 12

Use of the Membrane to Purify Lysozyme from Egg White

In one embodiment of the invention, the membrane was used for separation of lysozyme from egg white. Hen egg white was first separated from fresh eggs. Then 10 ml of homogenized egg white was diluted with 90 ml of 0.1 M phosphate solution (pH 8.0) containing 1 M NaCl, followed by filtration and centrifugation at 100 g for 20 min. Finally, 65 ml of supernatant was pumped through the chitin cartridge of Example 8, at 1 ml/min, followed by 10 min washing at 15 ml/min and about 15 min elution at 5 ml/min. The purity of the lysozyme was examined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) using a wide-pore CBx HPLC column, 5 mm, 7.75 mm×100 mm. The flow rate was 1 ml/min, the mobile phase A binding buffer was 25 mM MES ((2-N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid), pH 5.6 and the mobile phase B eluting buffer was 1 M NaOAc, pH 7.0. The sample size was 100 ml. The various profiles in FIG. 6 represent pure ovalbumin (a; curve 10), pure lysozyme (b; curve 11) and lysozyme from egg white (c; curve 12). The purity of lysozyme from egg white was estimated to be higher than 98% and its specific activity was 54,003 units/mg protein.

EXAMPLE 13

Use of Chitin Membrane Cartridge for Purification of Wheat Germ Agglutinin

Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) can be isolated by passing a WGA containing solution through a microporous or macroporous chitin membrane. A stack of membranes in a cartridge can also be used. In an illustration of this embodiment, ten chitin membranes were stacked together in a cartridge as described in Example 8. The characteristics of these membranes are presented in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Membrane material chitin from chitosan configuration stack of 10 average pore size in dry 18 state (um) porosity in wet state (mm) 62 total thickness in wet 5 state (mm) effective area (cm²) 13.8 Membrane volume 6.9 Specific surface area - dry 1.6 state (m²/g) Hydraulic permeability of 0.41 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer under ΔP < 10 psi (cm/(min psi))

These membranes have a high permeability (0.4 cm/min/psi under a pressure drop <10 psi). The adsorption isotherm of the wheat germ agglutinin on the chitin membranes is presented in FIG. 7. By nonlinear least-square regression of the Langmuir equation: $q = \frac{q_{m}C}{K_{d} + C}$

one obtains the value of the maximum absorption capacity i.e., q_(m)=176.6±8.5 mg WGA/g chitin membrane, and the value of the constant K_(d) the value 0.53±0.07 mg WGA/ml solution.

The loading of wheat germ agglutinin to the chitin membranes is an important parameter. A too small loading does not efficiently utilize the adsorption capacity of the membrane, and will provide a low productivity. A too high loading will result, however, in a loss of valuable wheat germ agglutinin, which will pass through the membrane without being adsorbed. To illustrate this embodiment, different volumes of a 1 mg/ml solution of WGA was loaded on to a membrane cartridge, and eluted with an acid solution (1.0 M acetic acid). FIG. 8 presents the relationship between the eluted WGA, the yield of WGA (defined as the eluted over loaded amounts) and the WGA loading. While the eluted amount increases with increasing loading, the yield however, decreases. High yield (>85%) was observed for a loading below 6 mg.

The flow rate during elution is also an important parameter for the efficient recovery of WGA from the chitin membranes. FIG. 9 presents the elution profiles of the wheat germ agglutinin at three different flow rates, (2, 5, and 8 ml/min). Ten mg of wheat germ agglutinin was loaded at a flow rate of 2 ml/min. This was followed by washing and elution. The highest effluent concentrations were 1.1, 0.67, and 0.65 mg/ml for eluant flow rates of 2, 5, and 8 ml/min, respectively. The sharpest elution peak was obtained at the lowest flow rate (2 ml/min), and much broader peaks at the flow rates of 5 and 8 ml/min. The total eluted WGA was 8.11, 7.76, and 7.70 mg, at the flow rates of 2, 5, and 8 ml/min. respectively. The eluant volume needed for a 95% recovery of the strongly bound wheat germ agglutinin from the chitin membranes was estimated to be 28, 44 and 50 ml at the flow rates of 2, 5 and 8 ml/min, respectively.

In order to further investigate the elution of adsorbed WGA from the citin membranes, four kinds of eluants, namely 0.05 M HCl, 0.1 M CH₃COOH, 1 M CH₃COOH aqueous solution and 0.5 M GlcNac in 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.5) were used. First, the membranes were loaded with 10 ml of 1 mg/ml WGA in 0.01 M Tris-HCl solution (pH 8.5) at 2 ml/min. This was followed by washing with the buffer and finally by elution with one of the above eluants. The recovery under these conditions, shown in Table 5, indicates that 0.05 M HCl aqueous solution (pH˜1.4), recovers 9.6% of the WGA bound to the chitin membrane. 0.1 M CH₃COOH (pH˜2.9), elutes 38.6% of the WGA from the membrane. 1.0 M CH₃COOH aqueous solution (pH˜2.4), recovers 93% of the WGA (WGA is not denatured in 1 M CH₃COOH solution). A specific displacer, 0.5 M GlcNac in buffer was also tested as an eluant. As shown in Table 5, this eluant could recover only 10.5% of the WGA from the chitin membranes. Therefore, 1 M CH₃COOH solution is a preferred eluant for the present invention.

TABLE 5 Eluants Recovery (%) 0.05 M HC1  9.6 0.1 M acetic acid 38.6 1.0 M acetic acid 93.0 0.5 M GlcNac 10.5

EXAMPLE 14

Use of Chitin Membrane to Purify Wheat Germ Agglutinin from Wheat Germ

The macroporous or microporous chitin membranes of the present invention possess a high porous structure, good mechanical strength and contain affinity ligands for the wheat germ agglutinin. Consequently, they can process a large volume of crude wheat germ agglutinin solutions at high flow rates and low pressure drops. A highly selective purification of the wheat germ agglutinin from wheat germ, with good yield, can be achieved.

For the purification of WGA from wheat germ, it is preferable to first remove the lipids (defat). Any lipid solvent can be used for defatting, including, but not limited to alkanes such as heptane and hexane. In a preferred embodiment, the lipid solvent is heptane.

In an illustration of this embodiment, one hundred gm of wheat germ was ground and then defatted twice with 300 ml heptane at room temperature for 2 h. This was followed by vacuum filtration and drying in a fume hood overnight. The defatted wheat germ was suspended with stirring in 0.05 M HCl for 4 h at room temperature. After clarification by centrifugation (at 10⁴ rpm in a Sorvall RC-5B Refrigerated Superspeed), the crude wheat germ agglutinin extract (supernatant) was collected and ammonium sulfate was slowly added with stirring up to 40 gm per 100 g of solution for 1 h at room temperature and kept overnight at 4° C. After centrifugation (10⁴ rpm), the obtained precipitate was dissolved in 100 ml 0.05 M HCl solution, and dialyzed extensively against distilled water and subsequently against 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer. After the removal of the precipitate by centrifugation, about 100 ml of clarified crude WGA extract solution was obtained.

For the purification of WGA from the crude WGA extract solution, a ten-chitin membrane cartridge was used. The cartridge was first equilibrated with 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.5) and the WGA extract solution was loaded on to the membrane cartridge at 2 ml/min. This was followed by washing successively with the buffer, buffer containing 1 M NaCl, and again the buffer. The adsorbed proteins were eluted stepwise with 0.05 M HCl to remove the impurities and with 1 M acetic acid aqueous solution to remove the strongly bound agglutinin. SDS-PAGE of the eluted protein (FIG. 10) indicates the presence of purified WGA. The eluted protein solution was collected and dialyzed against 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer overnight. The concentration of protein was determined spectrophotometrically (at 595 nm for total proteins, and 280 for WGA) and the agglutinin activity was assayed as follows. One ml human erythrocyte (type A+) was washed three times with 5 ml PBS buffer, pH 6.8 by centrifugation, and then suspended at 2% (v/v) in a PBS. The hemagglutinating activity was assayed by serial dilutions. A red cell suspension was added to each dilution and agglutination was evaluated after 1 hour. One unit of agglutinating activity is defined as the minimum concentration of agglutinin (ug/ml) at which agglutination still occurs. The specific activity is defined as the number of units per mg of protein. The isolation and purification results are shown in Table 6.

A purification factor, defined as the ratio between the final and initial specific activities, of 5.5 and an activity yield, defined as the ratio between the total final and initial activities, of 40% could be achieved. About 25 mg of pure wheat germ agglutinin could be obtained from 50 g wheat germ. Table 7 presents the results obtained regarding the purification of crude wheat germ agglutinin on chitin affinity membranes for various operation modes and loading volumes.

TABLE 6 Isolation and purification of wheat germ agglutinin from 50 gm wheat germ Total Total Specific Activity Purifi- protein activity activity^(a) recovery cation Step (mg) (units) (units/mg) (%) factor Crude  296 ± 5.5 6623 ± 201 22.4 ± 1.1 100  1 extract Precipi-  193 ± 13 6273 ± 128 32.7 ± 1.6 94.9 ± 4.9 ˜1.5 tate Dialysis   51 ± 2 3228 ± 158 63.4 ± 5.6 48.9 ± 3.9 ˜3.2 Affinity 24.7 ± 0.6^(c) 2688 ± 26  109 ± 3.8 40.6 ± 0.8 ˜5.5 step^(b) ^(a)Specific activity of pure wheat germ agglutinin from sigma: 128 units/mg. ^(b)The crude wheat germ agglutinin solution after dialysis against 0.01 M Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, was recirculated through the chitin membrane cartridge for 1 h at a flow rate of 2 ml/min. ^(c)Eluted WGA with 1 M CH₃COOH plus WGA amount after dialysis of eluted WGA with 0.05 M HCl.

TABLE 7 Purification of crude wheat germ agglutinin on macroporous chitin membrane cartridge (10 membranes) (about 100 ml crude WGA solution was obtained from 100 g wheat germ) Loading Total Specific Run volume Operation Eluted activity activity no. (ml) mode WGA^(a) (mg) (units) (units/mg) 1 50 Recirc.^(b) 22.4 ± 0.3  2371 ± 38 105.9 ± 3.1 2 50 Single-pass^(c) 19.7 2045 103.6 3 30 Single-pass^(c)  9.9 ± 0.3  1480 ± 11 148.9 ± 5.5 4 15 Single-pass^(c) 4.74 ± 0.1 608.2 ± 21 128.5 ± 7.2 ^(a)Elution with 1 M CH3COOH solution. ^(b)At 5 ml/min for 1 h. ^(c)At 2 ml/min.

The purification profile of WGA during the various steps is presented in FIG. 11. Even though wheat germ was treated twice h heptane to remove the lipids and 1 M NaCl in the buffer to remove other contaminants from the adsorbed wheat germ agglutinin, still some contaminants could be identified in the at germ agglutinin eluate when the elution step with 0.05 M was omitted. In order to obtain high purity wheat germ agglutinin, two-step elution was employed in this illustration. first elution step with 0.05 M HCl solution was used to remove all contaminants (including the remaining lipids). Although some wheat germ agglutinin is also eluted in this step, amount is relatively small (about 10% of the WGA eluted in second step) and can be recovered in a pure form via its dialysis against 0.01 M Tris-HCl solution (pH 8.5). The second elution step with 1 N CH₃COOH can provide a high purity wheat germ agglutinin (FIG. 10).

It is appreciated that various modifications to the inventive concept may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the hereinafter appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for purification of wheat germ agglutinin from wheat germ comprising the steps of: a. defatting the wheat germ with a lipid solvent; b. preparing a crude wheat germ agglutinin extract solution from the defatted wheat germ; c. contacting the crude wheat germ agglutinin extract solution with at least one macroporous or microporous chitin membrane; d. washing the at least one macroporous or microporous chitin membrane to remove unbound molecules; and e. eluting bound wheat germ agglutinin molecules from the at least one macroporous or microporous chitin membrane with an acidic solution.
 2. The method of claim 1, lipid solvent is heptane.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the acidic solution is acetic acid.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the acetic acid is 1.0 molar.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one microporous or macroporous chitin membrane is in a cartridge. 